Professor Enns surprised with Exemplary Teacher Award

Professor of Psychology Carol Zerbe Enns received an unexpected honor at Cornell College’s 2016 Commencement ceremony when she was announced as the recipient of the Exemplary Teacher Award.

Professor Carol Zerbe Enns has been teaching at Cornell College since ’87.

“It’s a tremendous honor,” Professor Enns said. “It’s a huge surprise. It’s pretty amazing to be acknowledged among faculty with so many talents. It feels like a double surprise, given the fact that I am one of many, many, many who give so much to this college.”

Dean of the College Joe Dieker makes the decision with input from President Jonathan Brand and the Faculty Development Advisory Committee.

Dieker said Professor Enns is a treasured faculty member.

“Carol does it all,” Dieker said. “She is an engaging professor who is well-liked and respected by students. She has developed and taught a very popular off-campus course, Psychology of the Holocaust, that takes student to Austria, Czech Republic, and Hungary. She has also served as the faculty director for the Associated Colleges of the Midwest/Great Lakes Colleges Association Japan Studies program in Tokyo. Her scholarly achievements rank with some of the finest scholars in the country.”

Professor Enns teaches many classes for the Ethnic Studies and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies programs.

She is a leader in her field and has received numerous awards, most recently the Florence L. Denmark and Mary E. Reuder Award for outstanding international contributions to the psychology of women and gender (2013, American Psychological Association Division of International Psychology). Enns has written approximately 60 articles and chapters that focus on gender, pedagogy, and feminist theory and psychotherapy.

Carolyn is also the author of “Feminist Theories and Psychotherapies” (2004) and co-editor of “Teaching and Social Justice” (2005), “The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Multicultural Counseling Psychology” (2013), and “Psychological Practice With Women: Guidelines, Diversity, Empowerment” (2015). She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and Midwestern Psychological Association.

“For me, there have been a number of other kinds of awards I have received as a psychologist, but those are more a part of professional activity,” Professor Enns said. “This Exemplary Teacher Award feels much different and much more special because it’s about my day-to-day work. It’s the stuff I do every day and it’s the stuff I have been doing for almost 30 years. It’s about the community that I’m a part of on a regular basis, and that makes it especially wonderful.”

The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church offers the award for its affiliated colleges. Last year the recipient was Associate Professor of Theatre Jim VanValen.

The recipient receives $1,000 with $500 of it from the United Methodist Church and $500 from Cornell College.

Dieker said this is a good time to honor Professor Enns because she is moving into phased retirement in the coming year.